Dive Club 🤿 Andy Zhang - From early Figma to design engineer at Windsurf
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Aug 15, 2025 In this insightful conversation, Andy Zhang shares his journey as the Design Engineering Lead at Windsurf, previously a founding design engineer at a startup and a product manager at Uber. He discusses the importance of bridging technical features with intuitive user experiences and emphasizes the value of saying 'no' to maintain design simplicity. Andy also reflects on his transformative internship at Figma, where he learned vital skills and received mentorship that shaped his career. Tune in for tales of innovation, collaboration, and practical advice for aspiring designers and engineers!
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Early Figma Internship Shaped Mindset
- Andy Zhang landed an internship at Figma when it had fewer than ten people and found it deeply formative.
- He credits mentors like Jessica and colleagues such as Rasmus for teaching deep technical and design thinking.
Deleting Files Taught Attention To Detail
- Andy worked on a recoverable-delete (trash) feature at Figma and remembers debating tiny copy choices for hours.
- He learned that extreme attention to detail was the norm and highly influential on product quality.
Design Engineers Supercharge Early AI Startups
- At Windsurf Andy's role evolved from growth/front-end work into owning both design and engineering.
- He concluded design engineers are strategic multipliers for startups building AI-first products.